I have mentioned in this
journal in the past that there are several young men I feel have
been uniquely called by God to lead the church into the first part
of the twenty-first century in matters related to apologetics. John
Oakes is one of these men, and this book is one of his most recent
efforts. This book is in a question/answer format and is divided
into 16 chapters that are areas of apologetics that have special
significance in the twenty-first century. The chapters are given
titles like “Reliability of the Biblical Text,” “Supposed
Inconsistencies in the Bible,” “Science and the Bible,”
“Evolution,” “The Genesis Flood,” “The Relationship Between
Christianity and Other Religions,” and so forth.

The way the material is handled is to ask questions in each of the
16 areas listed and then answer them. The wording of the questions
is such that those of us who deal with the public will recognize
them as the way these questions are usually phrased by skeptics and
people with faith problems. Oakes has a Ph.D. in chemical physics
from the University of Colorado and is president of the Apologetics
Research Society, so his answers are very well handled and very
scholarly. In some cases questions are answered by reprinting an
article that Oakes has written in the past. “Is Christmas a
Christian Holiday?” “Apologetics and the Christian World View,”
“Should Intelligent Design Be Prescribed in Public School
Curricula?” and “Judas: Another Gospel?” are examples.

This is a great book for building the faith of Christians, and would
make a great study for a class of college students because it will
generate a lot of discussion. The brevity of the answers is
sometimes a problem, and the book really needs an index to find
specific issues. However, it is a great tool in answering the
questions of others as well as your own questions. We recommend it
highly.